This is a project I started in the middle of last year and just now finished.
I’ve always wanted a prop accurate Kylo Ren helmet. The Anovos was an excellent base, but the paint and overall texture details on the Anovos were lacking in my opinion.
I’ve been researching this helmet since 2015 and wanted to be able to replicate the look seen in film. After receiving good reference, I decided on the style of hero helmet I would be going for.
I had my friend Richard add in the air bubbles on the muzzle piece. He also altered the areas where the flares are, and cut out an entire piece as it is not present on the celebration model.
These were the pictures I was using as reference. Obviously, even with the reference I had of the helmet that I can’t post on here, there was still a lot that I interpreted or gave my artistic interpretation of. For example, the scarring on the faceplate was copied directly from the film source while the scratch weathering on the rest of the helmet was something that I added a bit “extra” of to make it pop.
After sanding all the paint off of it, and adding probably 10-15 little various dents and dings that were on my reference and not on the Anovos, I sent it off to be vacuum metalized
Once it was back, more work began. I went ahead and hand painted some of the black so that when I sprayed it on, any spots I covered with the tape would still be black
Finally I began to paint the rest of it.
I used many different black shades. Flat, matte, gloss, satin, some gloss and matte clear coat, and even adhesion promoter. It really gave it that look and feel of a black that you really can’t nail the texture/color of. And that’s what I wanted... I wanted it to be a dark black, but still change shades depending on lighting. The chrome weathering was done with oil paints, splatters of clear coat, a black wash, and a grey wash. The cheeks were airbrushed using a 70-30% mixture of black and sepia, and then scratched with a toothbrush.
There is no mesh in the eyes, as I wear a headsock when wearing it, to make the eye area look more sunken.
I’ve always wanted a prop accurate Kylo Ren helmet. The Anovos was an excellent base, but the paint and overall texture details on the Anovos were lacking in my opinion.
I’ve been researching this helmet since 2015 and wanted to be able to replicate the look seen in film. After receiving good reference, I decided on the style of hero helmet I would be going for.
I had my friend Richard add in the air bubbles on the muzzle piece. He also altered the areas where the flares are, and cut out an entire piece as it is not present on the celebration model.
These were the pictures I was using as reference. Obviously, even with the reference I had of the helmet that I can’t post on here, there was still a lot that I interpreted or gave my artistic interpretation of. For example, the scarring on the faceplate was copied directly from the film source while the scratch weathering on the rest of the helmet was something that I added a bit “extra” of to make it pop.
After sanding all the paint off of it, and adding probably 10-15 little various dents and dings that were on my reference and not on the Anovos, I sent it off to be vacuum metalized
Once it was back, more work began. I went ahead and hand painted some of the black so that when I sprayed it on, any spots I covered with the tape would still be black
Finally I began to paint the rest of it.
I used many different black shades. Flat, matte, gloss, satin, some gloss and matte clear coat, and even adhesion promoter. It really gave it that look and feel of a black that you really can’t nail the texture/color of. And that’s what I wanted... I wanted it to be a dark black, but still change shades depending on lighting. The chrome weathering was done with oil paints, splatters of clear coat, a black wash, and a grey wash. The cheeks were airbrushed using a 70-30% mixture of black and sepia, and then scratched with a toothbrush.
There is no mesh in the eyes, as I wear a headsock when wearing it, to make the eye area look more sunken.
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